...Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is a fictional account of the real life Salem witch trials, but the play has far deeper meanings than just a dramatic interpretation of the event. While it does provide an entertaining experience at face value, the true literary genius behind the work is Miller’s insight on human nature and the depravity of man. He uses the story of the witch trials to touch on hypocrisy, tendency to turn to revenge, and human weakness. Firstly, the theme of hypocrisy is found amongst the town of Salem as a whole, especially those who support the witch trials. They are supposed to have strong Christian values, yet they are extremely vindictive. More specifically, Mary Warren says that she is doing the Lord’s work, when in fact she is contributing to the deaths of people who know and love God. “I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do,” (56) she says in act II. Another example is the hypocrisy within the Salem court system. Judge Danforth claims that his court reveals all truth when he says, “We burn a hot fire here:...
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...thought as the superior and perfect people in society. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible illustrates that everyone, including sinners, can be a hero in certain situations. The Scarlet Letter, a book about the consequence and change of identity after committing adultery between the main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, has many similarities with The Crucible, a story about an unfair witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. In the two books, Dimmesdale and John Proctor are depicted as heroes despite their critical flaws in their lives. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller, the authors of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, portray contrasting symbolism such as hypocrisy and justice through similar but different characters: Reverend Dimmesdale and John Proctor. Identified as an adulterer in the story, Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy is clearly shown through the context. The story starts off with the punishment of Hester for her sin, adultery that she had committed with Dimmesdale. As Hester does not blurt the name of the child’s father when questioned about the crime, Dimmesdale as a Reverend, the holy man, speaks up. He states, “though [the man that has sinned] were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart.” (Hawthorne 58). He continues that the “silence” of Hester is just “[adding] hypocrisy to sin.” (Hawthorne 58). Ironically, his statements do not agree with his life. Even though...
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...In the Crucible by Arthur Miller identity is influenced by social and cultural mores in a variety of different ways. John Proctor and Abigail Williams and examples how social and cultural mores of the time affect the characters within the crucible. John Proctor one of the major characters in the play is a good guy who is honest with one thing that will haunt him that was a big mistake. He had an afar with abigail Williams. John realizes that the only way he can stop abigail’s crazy rampage through there towns to confesses that he had and affair with his wife. John proctor is affected by his time period/society because he hates hypocrisy witch it from that time period. John Proctor might have been affected during the 21st century because there...
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...Ryan Hunter Jones Mrs. Zinsitz English III 7th 12 October 2010 When Decisions Change Everything In Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", the people of Salem are in a crisis and sometimes people who claim to be good aren't what they seem and may be in fact a hypocrite. Judge Danforth a senior judge during the Salem witch trials exposes his hypocrisy in his conflicts between Giles Corey, Mary Warren and the people of the town for the sake of his own reputation. Judge Danforth is a powerful man who comes to Salem to stop the hysteria and prosecute the witches. Danforth believes he... "does not let anything interfere with an exact loyalty to his position and his cause" (Miller 182). He represents the God given right of the Puritan law to make sure justice is served. However he did struggle with justice and especially Giles Corey. Giles, an elder in the town showed up in Judge Danforth's court to explain a misunderstanding about his wife who was now being convicted of being a witch. Giles explained that he "never had no wife that be so taken with books.. like his 3rd wife" (Miller 182). He was curious about why she enjoyed books so much, unfortunately he said it out loud one day and they..."come and take her out of my house" (Miller 182). He was also there to discuss that Thomas Putnam's daughter was falsely accusing George Jacob so that Mr. Putnam could get Mr. Jacob's land. Giles explained that "if Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property--that's law! And there is none...
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...The Salem witch trials are notoriously known for the killings of innocent inhabitants of Salem. Some say the cause of their deaths could be traced back to Salem’s strict social order. The structure of 1600’s Salem was very religion-based as it was woven into everyday life. The government was a theocracy, the priests were highly respected, and anyone who went against the government was considered evil. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible unveils the realistic effect of social order on one’s personal freedom. Because religion was so vital in 1600’s Salem’s social order, the inhabitants suffered from a lack of personal freedom. The structure of the Puritan society in colonial Massachusetts served an important role in the setting of The Crucible. The...
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...Individuals, subject to human frailty and motivation, exhibit inconsistencies among the greater collective human experience. In turn, preconceived notions of the audience are challenged by the exposition of humanity’s complexity to invoke personal assessment and reflection. As such, it is presented within Arthur Miller’s tragedy, “The Crucible”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic fiction, “The Scarlet Letter”. Both works explore the contradictions of judgement and consider the inconsistencies of personal integrity, encapsulated under the guise of Puritanism within New England America, political agenda, and historical calamity. Therefore, audiences foster introspection and reflection by developing nuance surrounding the inconsistencies of human...
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...The theme of oppression is constant throughout both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Crucible. Both show how religion can be twisted into a form of control in society and they show the huge detrimental and devastating effects this control can have. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows the horror and appalling nature of the Salem witch trials of 1692, but beneath this surface it shows the parallels to aspects in Miller’s own life at this period, with the idea of McCarthyism going out of control in America. McCarthyism was a result of the second red scare in America in the late 1940´s/1950’s. It was a fear driven movement that swept across the United States where the threat of a Communist world revolution seemed like a very real threat. In response to this branches of the government set up organisations such as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) to help fight Communism from infiltrating the state. Unfortunately in the end it simply led to a ´witch hunt´ in which people were brought to trial and accused of being communist, Miller amongst them. HUAC and McCarthyism were simply examples of how when those in power feel threatened they will do anything to maintain their position which is what Miller set out to show in The Crucible. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood took a different approach, with a dystopian text which shows a world in which women are heavily oppressed and religion is used as a tool to brainwash and control the population. Atwood has made a point of showing how...
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...The Illusion of Justice One plus one does not always equal two. In the court of mathematics this arithmetic truism may be, yet in reality a courtroom is not pure, but laden with injustice. The courtroom in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, his recreation of the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, is synonymous. The theocratic court reviews cases regarding witchcraft brought to the gavel by a group of hormonal teenage girls, who have been willing the court to arrest and execute whom they see fit. This literal courtroom is allegorical to the interactions of Senator McCarthy with potential traitors during the 1950’s. As the girls of Salem exploit the fears of their community, McCarthy capitalized on the fear of the entire U.S. nation: Communism. McCarthy’s tactics and actions were highlighted in a CBS broadcasting led by Edward R. Murrow titled, “We Will Not Walk in Fear”. The broadcast was received by the U.S. in 1954 during the Cold War, a decade dubbed ‘The Red Scare’. While the empowered teens of Salem and McCarthy were daunting, their injustices were matched by John Proctor and Edward R. Murrow, respectively. Proctor and Murrow fought against the false accusations and biased plaintiffs to stop the injustice posed. Proctor and Murrow combat their oppressors on the hollow claims made. Proctor is roped in to the Salem courts when his wife is accused. He points out to the judges that “so many of these women have lived so long with such upright reputation” (Miller 84). Proctor’s...
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...In Arthur Miller’s drama the Crucible, the main character John Proctor proves to show a copious amount of positive personality traits but is sinful to one fatal flaw, committing adultery with Abigail Williams that he can’t allow himself to be forgave for. Though Proctor believes this sin has damaged God’s view of him, the character has proven to show throughout the play he is capable of reclaiming his goodness. Ultimately, in the words of Hannah Montana, “Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days.” Proctor realizes he doesn’t have to be a saint to be good. To understand how John Proctor reclaimed his goodness, the story needs to be set to when the reader is first aware of Proctor’s lost sense of goodness. The play introduced Proctor as a man repleted with guilt. Known for being highly respected in the town of Salem, he is struggling with his self image and sense of goodness, rightfully so. Following the event of Proctor...
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...everything in order and control, or else the world was thought to be chaotic. Religion is something that was essential in one’s life and unfortunately some people began to take advantage of that idea, such as Reverend Parris in “The Crucible.” Reverend Parris, the Prime Minister of Salem used God to give himself more power and was willing to do anything in order to maintain his status in society, which didn’t portray such...
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...walking past a person in need. This evolution of self righteousness has been prevalent in society for centuries. Arthur Miller gives a look back in time to the Salem witch trials where many of today’s problems and faults are still occurring. His take on the early colonial life in Salem, Massachusettes shows the extreme levels of self righteousness, discrimination, and biased gender roles, showing how society has changed only slightly. Self righteousness is a curse. It plagues many people. They feel as though they have a sort of superiority over others. It can make them do crazy things like accuse others of terrible crimes, or completely ignore their own problems, blaming them on others. When Judge Danforth, a character in Miller’s, The Crucible, was asked to rethink his decision of executing several people, his self righteousness became apparent. “Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now.” (Miller 531).The character Danforth was a judge, he signed the death warrant and final decree of guilt for many of Salem’s people. The morning of several more executions, he is asked to postpone the deaths, for no one could truly believe these people were guilty. They were well liked and members of the church. Danforth refused to postpone the hanging because it would look like he no longer believed they were guilty. This would be controversial for him because these folk had the same amount of evidence against...
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....F’;.CV0C=Universality of human rights has always been a extensively challenged and debated topic, especially in the recent decades. In recent decades, a widely contested debate over the universality of human rights has emerged. Rights are certainly not universally-applied today, with oppression, torture and various atrocities committed in many parts of the world. This paper will focus on the notion that both in the Third-World and the West, states have used human rights discussion as a political tool, which has weakened arguments for its universality. This perspective will be utilised to break down arguments made against universal human rights before presenting alternative conceptions of universal human rights and identifying developments which may ensure they can be universally applied and respected. It is important to first define the theoretical basis of ‘universal’ human rights. Universal conceptions argue human rights are inalienable, self-evident and applicable to all human beings (Donnelly, 2003, 10). These arguments are often linked to origins in Western philosophy and natural law, developed from philosophers such as John Locke (Langlois, 2009, 12). Many scholars maintain that human rights are ‘pre-political’, thus unchangeable and unaffected by cultural or political variation. Donnelly identifies the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basis in establishing the “contemporary consensus on internationally recognised human rights” (2003, 22). Human rights...
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...Positive law as the ethic of our time. Business Horizons | September 01, 1990 | Fisher, Bruce D. | Copyright Positive Law as the Ethic of Our Time The number of businesspersons, political leaders, TV ministers, sports personalities, educators, and other role models for American society who in recent years have been fined, imprisoned, left private or public office in disgrace, or been denied Olympic medals starlets many. Others not only are alarmed by the rash of apparently unethical conduct by society's leaders, but also wonder if there is some character flaw in the present generation of achievers that dooms their ultimate success - and threatens the commitment of the average member of society to the ethics of work and integrity. It is not unusual to read of self-studies by leading business firms that question the propriety of basic organizational values and ask hard questions about the institution. Certainly it makes institutions such as businesses and governments appear ridiculous to line personnel, who are micro-managed to death by institutional guidelines covering the minutes aspects of their work yet see leaders who appear to violate laws governing major phases of their business. This article advances the notion that the "law on the books" - positive law - has become the basic ethic of our business and social culture today. That is, people have come to accept the notion that if they have followed the law on the books in a democratic society, that is probably all...
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...“You will know them by their fruits.” Mt. 7:16 CHRISTIAN PURITY By Randolph Sinks Foster FOREWORD The past generation produced some outstanding leaders and writers among the advocates of the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification. The writings of these authors are of such high rank and their value has been so tested by time that today their books are worthy to be recognized as classics in this field of religious literature. That these writings, all of which are now out of print, may be preserved and made available to the people of the holiness movement today, the publishers are presenting this series of Abridged Holiness Classics. The abridged message is that of the original author from which has been deleted material mostly applicable to the previous generation. The man called upon to undertake the task of abridgment for the first four volumes in the series is the Rev. John Paul, who is well known as a Bible scholar and as an authoritative preacher and teacher of the doctrine of entire sanctification. That Doctor Paul has done an admirable work will be recognized by the reader of this series which starts with the following titles: “Purity and Maturity,” and “Perfect Love,” by J. A. Wood; “Possibilities of Grace,” by Asbury Lowrey; “Christian Purity,” by Bishop Foster. It is the sincere prayer of the publishers that these classics in abridged form will be the blessing to the readers of this generation that they were to the generation to which they were written originally...
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...Ben Jonson (1572–1637). The Alchemist. The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. | | | | |Introductory Note | | | | | |BEN JONSON was born of poor parents at Westminster in 1573. Through the influence of Camden, the antiquary, he got a good | 1| |education at Westminster School; but he does not seem to have gone to a University, though later both Oxford and Cambridge gave | | |him degrees. In his youth he practised for a time his stepfather’s trade of bricklaying, and he served as a soldier in Flanders. | | | It was probably about 1595 that he began to write for the stage, and within a few years he was recognized as a distinguished | 2| |playwright. His comedy of “Every Man in His Humour” was not only a great immediate success, but founded a school of satirical | | |drama in England. “Sejanus” and “Catiline” were less popular, but are impressive pictures of Roman life, less interesting but more| | |accurate than the Roman plays of Shakespeare. ...
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